The Advocate - Issue 17 - February 14, 2020

Volume 54, Issue 17 February 14, 2020 advocate-online.net

FOR THE STUDENTS BY THE STUDENTS

Black History panel PAGE 2

'The Witcher' works its magic PAGE 6

An Oscar Sunday for the books PAGE 7

A LOVE NOTE TO OREGON

PAGE 8

Valentine's Day: love, death, and divorce PAGES 4-5

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A D V O C AT E - O N L I N E . N E T

MHCC STAFF AND STUDENTS DISCUSS BLACK HISTORY MONTH

STUDENT GOVERNMENT CANDIDATES WANTED

Omar Saradi The Advocate

What kind of experiences do African-American staff and students have at Mt. Hood Community College, and how does it feel to come to Oregon from another state with a different population makeup?

MHCC held a Black History Month panel discussion on Tuesday, Feb. 11, in the Student Union to highlight these issues.

The discussion was primarily headed by MHCC academic adviser Calvin Walker, who spoke heavily on his role as a staff member. He stated his role, as he sees it: “I’m employed

by Mt. Hood, but I work for YOU.” Photo by Maysee Thao | The Advocate This regards his experience helping all of the students he’s advised and From left: MHCC adviser Calvin Walker, psychology instructor Nicole Bragg Scott, student David Fountain and Student Services staff member Kimberly Applin. making sure his students of color have Las Vegas, said that a struggle he has had who have contributed to this country.” the knowledge and resources to make at MHCC is “feeling at home,” which Among the different topics discussed it in a world that puts them at a systemic highlights the importance of a campus at the event, the most notable came from disadvantage, he said. group for these students. the audience – the idea of forming a group “We can spread this message of The Black History Month showcase, empowerment to you and let you know or union for these students of color. It was a temporary display, will remain in the reported that MHCC has a budget set aside how powerful you are,” Walker said in his Student Union for the month of February. for this, that is now close to being dropped, opening statements.

The exhibit consists of the many figures due to the turnover and participation of He continued by reading to the throughout America’s history and creation, students over the years. audience the history of Oregon that isn’t their contributions and their impact on Many of the audience members and spoken about much, publicly: the black how Black history is celebrated. the students on the panel were enthusiastic exclusion laws that lasted from 1844 until 1926. These laws were conceived in an era about the prospect of starting their own of anti-black and other anti-immigrant resource group since the struggles of all SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES: who spoke were a sense of belonging on beliefs.

THE NEXT STUDENT VOICES “That is the history of the (Oregon) campus. Two of the students on panel, territory and the place that you’re sitting in who came to Mt. Hood to play basketball, FORUM WILL BE HELD IN today,” Walker continued. “(T)hat internal came from vastly different places than Oregon.

Coming to Gresham was and bias may have been smoothed over, but we THE MULTICULTURAL AND still is, a brand-new experience for them, don’t really know if it’s changed.”

DIVERSITY RESOURCE CENTER However, regarding Black History one that required them to adapt from the Month as a celebratory experience, Walker communities and life they came from, they 11:30 A.M.- 12:30 A.M. ON said something that many others have said.

Davion Stringer, a freshman guard for noted: “It’s a small drop in the ocean of FEB. 18 possibilities for black and brown people the Saints basketball team who is from

Daniella Young The Advocate

MHCC’s Associated Student Government is currently seeking applicants for the 202021 school year.

ASG is the student government of the college and the group’s goals include strengthening the experience for students through focused initiatives, events, and projects while representing the student body.

The application for positions is online, and anyone interested is welcome to apply.

ASG is especially seeking candidates for the positions of President and Vice President.

For any student interested in running for those two positions, 100 signatures are required from other MHCC students (this can include the other branch campuses).

Eligible candidates applying for an ASG position must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5.

A specific deadline for applying has not yet been set.

Earlier this term there were sessions where students could get more information on the jobs and duties of these positions.

“Hopefully we’ll be doing more informational sessions,” said Rozina Lethe, Student Leadership and Engagement coordinator. “We’re still determining dates.”

In the meantime, for anyone interested, Lethe said, “I would recommend talking to current ASG members. Come talk with us and meet the team.”

There also will be Meet the Candidate events and presidential debates coming up on campus, most likely in April. The elections should follow soon after.

For more information, contact Lethe or visit the ASG, both in the Student Union, or see: mhcc.edu/ASG/

for the students by the students Editor-in-Chief Chloe Collins

Sports Editor [Position Open]

Associate Editor Omar Saradi

Opinion Editor Omar Saradi

News Editor Chris Barney Arts & Entertainment Editors Kurt Larson Eli Rankin

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Graphic Design Editor Eli Rankin

Broadcast Graphic Designer Annie Avila

Broadcast Producer Naethaniel Lile

Photo Editor Maysee Thao

Broadcast Tech Director Gage Linhares

Ad Manager Parrish Chang

Photo Team Bethy Fallgren Landon Spady Fletcher Wold Staff Writers Brad Le Daniella Young Kel Buell Laura J Clement Omar Carrillo Ash Espinoza

@mhccadvocate

Social Media Manager [Position Open] Distribution Specialist Julia MacDonald Advisers Dan Ernst Howard Buck

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SPORTS

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

SAINTS BRING VIGOR AND VICTORY Brad Le

The Advocate A few issues ago, I wrote in The Advocate about attending my first professional sports game.

After that, I thought about giving a local game a try. So, on Saturday (Feb. 8), I attended the games between our Mt. Hood women’s and men’s basketball teams and the Chemeketa Community College Storm.

I enjoyed both games, but I couldn’t help but notice just how different the experience of basketball was, comparing the women’s game to the men’s game, despite the objective being the same.

Over the course of the

women’s game I got to observe the differences between that of a professional game and that of an amateur game. I recall a relative who always described amateur games as trying to explain why 1+1 equals 3 – a waste of time.

However, I did not find myself feeling that way as the women’s basketball game was quite entertaining and subverted the few stereotypes I anticipated would be involved.

You’ll hear talk of how men are physically more aggressive in athletics, whereas women tend to be less explosive in that sort of physical expression. Personally, I found that both games were physically aggressive, in different ways.

I noticed during the women’s game that they displayed more vigor when it came to how they played among themselves. Within the first moments of the first quarter, one of the players was in pain, having fallen to the ground hurting her head rather harshly. I also recall that near the end of the second quarter, one of the players had literally yanked the basketball so hard that her opponent had fallen to the ground due to the force used ( I was recently informed that this was legal).

As for men’s basketball, the energy was used differently. In quite literally the first five seconds of the game, one of our Saints had made a successful shot. The men moved faster and they would

make shots even farther away from the basket than the girls, and I even saw dunking, which I did not see in the women’s game. The only instance of any aggression that could’ve resulted in an injury was when one of our players had tripped near the other players while running, almost getting him trampled.

One of the more interesting things that I also noticed was the vigor of the crowd and how many spectators were there during both games. During the women’s game, the crowd had a reasonable turnout, of about a third to half the seats filled in the MHCC gym.

The audience was quiet and I saw many with their phones out that weren’t being used for pictures.

While I did hear “You got it, girl!” shouts, presumably from the mothers in the crowd, it wasn’t anywhere close to matching the enthusiasm that fans exhibited during the men’s game, with the seats being three-quarters full.

While I understand why the men’s game was more popular, with their youthful vitality, I enjoyed the women’s game more.

I couldn’t help but find that their form of vigor was more exciting (and scary), as I felt that their way of play was far more dynamic.

Regardless, my sense of Mt. Hood patriotism was satisfied as both of our teams claimed victory in these two matches – the Saints women winning, 54-39, and the men, 85-69.

Photos by Landon Spady

Photos from left: Saints freshman forward Chris Jackson focuses on the basket; Saints sophomore guard Bri Rosales offers a hand to a fallen opponent; Saints freshman forward Aliyah Dade focuses intently on her opponent; the Saints men celebrate an exciting moment.

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Cover by: Bethy Fallgren On the cover: A view of Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon.

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E-mail: advocatt@mhcc.edu Phone: 503-491-7250 Website: advocate-online.net Mt. Hood Community College Room 1369 26000 SE Stark Street Gresham OR 97030

The Advocate encourages readers to share their opinion by letters to the editor and guest columns for publication.

All submissions must be typed and include the writer’s name and contact information. Contact information will not be printed unless requested. Original copies will not be returned to the author. The Advocate will not print any unsigned submission. Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and guest columns should not exceed 600. The decision to publish is at the discretion of the editorial board. The Advocate reserves the right to edit for style, punctuation, grammar and length. Please bring submissions to The Advocate in Room 1369, or e-mail them to advocatt@mhcc.edu. Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. Monday the week of publication to be considered for print. Opinions expressed in columns, letters to the editor or advertisements are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Advocate or MHCC.

Laura J. Clement Staff Writer

Laura J. Clement is a staff writer who relocated to Oregon from the East Coast to be near her family. She has worked in a variety of fields, including designing fine jewelry. One of her most fun jobs was piloting a commercial fishing boat off the shoals of Martha’s Vineyard Island, Massachusetts. She’s always enjoyed writing, research and editing, and decided to return to school to further her goals. Laura is currently enjoying the study of wildlife conservation. She also enjoys writing lyrics and singing.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT| COLUMN

A D V O C AT E-O N L I N E.N E T

THE ORIGIN OF VALENTINE’S DAY Kel Buell The Advocate Valentine’s Day: We know it as the day that couples go out together and reaffirm their love for one another, while buying chocolates and roses and making sweet romantic gestures. But where did this holiday come from?

As it turns out, the history of Valentine’s Day is remarkably complex, starting with its namesake, Saint Valentine.

For one thing, there are three different “Saint Valentines” origin stories to choose from – featuring two men killed by Roman Emperor Claudius the Second.

According to one story, Claudius had decided that single men made better soldiers (for reasons that no one knows) and so banned marriage for young men. Our first Valentine candidate, a priest, allegedly

continued to conduct marriage ceremonies in secret until he was caught and put to death, becoming a martyr who would later gain saint status.

Another story has our Valentine as a bishop named Valentine of Terni, who was beheaded outside Rome (also by the Emperor’s orders) for reasons that aren’t really known.

Most important for us today: As legend has it – whichever of these two men, while being held captive – is believed to have sent the first valentine to the daughter of his jailer, whom he seems to have fallen in love with during her visits to him during his stay in prison. It is believed that at some point during this time he sent her a letter, signing it “from your Valentine,” which is, as we all know, a phrase still used today.

The origin of the name aside, the actual holiday used to be a Roman

holy-day known as Lupercilia, during which fertility rituals would be performed and some young men and women would even be married via lottery.

The first written Valentine’s cards can actually be traced back to the 1400-1500s, the oldest known being a poem written by Duke Charles of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned.

The first-mass produced cards were made in the 1700s, although they didn’t make their way to America until nearly a century later.

And there you have it – a brief overview on the “Holiday of Love.”

It is the day to take a chance, and go for broke. Ask your crush out, take your partner out to dinner, or stay in and watch a nice movie together, because as the original Valentine found out, you only live once.

’TIL PAPERS DO US PART

Brad Le

The Advocate While divorce is a messy subject and carries stigma across much of the nation, it makes for a noteworthy story in the history of the United States.

As it currently stands, approximately 50% of marriages in the U.S. end in divorce, with marriages lasting a median length of 11 years. The history of divorce in the U.S. has relatively strong links to progressive movements of the past and while divorce may still be a nasty business, the evolution of divorce law has been an indicator of social changes and acceptance for different views on marriage.

While (widespread) acceptance of divorce seems to be a fairly new phenomenon, the earliest sign of increasing acceptance for divorce seems to have originated in the late 1800s, with the goal of absolving dissatisfactory marriages. Despite this, early traces of women’s rights PA G E 4

movements seemed to have mixed opinions, with Antoinette Brown Blackwell stating that, “All divorce is naturally and morally impossible” during the 1860 National Women’s Rights Convention, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton giving a speech that addressed objections to divorce.

Despite such conflicting opinions on divorce in relation to women’s rights during the 19th century, the National Woman Suffrage Movement advocated for marriage and divorce reform.

While divorces slowly became more common, what prevented many more from occurring was that most states in the U.S. had only a “fault divorce” law, where one of the two parties had to be “at fault” in order to legally pursue a divorce.

While the acceptance of divorce became more common across the U.S. in the 20th century, the idea of a “no-fault” divorce had not yet come to fruition yet. It was generally considered against the state interest to have divorces, and in an attempt to prevent them, some states introduced “trial marriages.” These allowed couples to live together without being married for a certain period of time.

Regardless, because of the lack of a no-fault divorce system in the early 20th century, couples seeking a divorce had to wait for a fault in the divorce – most often (and easily) adultery – or had to lie convincingly

to the court, as most courts refused to grant divorce based on so-called “manufactured reasons.”

A little farther down the road, the concept of the no-fault divorce was introduced in 1969 in California by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, which enabled divorce to be more accessible to individuals seeking to split from their partners.

Following successful passage of reform legislation the following year, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research “[no-fault] divorce laws saw total female suicide decline by around 20 percent in the long run,” as many other states would follow suit.

Perhaps in the age of acceptance, when it comes to acknowledging separation as a method to get out of an unhappy marriage, the stigma against divorce might disappear.

After all, the conservative view of whether marital happiness alone is worth aspiring for has changed over time.

In addition, the change from a single-fault divorce to no-fault divorce law has been a significant factor in altering views of marriage as even after that change, the concept of a two-party-fault divorce was not yet considered a valid reason for legal dissolution.

All-in-all, the trend is that the stigma of divorce will be erased as time goes by, if history is used as a guide.

alentine’s cards, candy and dinners morous gazes, hearts and kisses ove is in the air

njoyment everywhere, intertwining onstop

ravel

ntrepid ew starts with

nthralling

weethearts Laura J. Clement

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

FORBIDDEN LOVE FOR THE 100TH TIME

Omar Carrillo The Advocate

“A plague on both your houses!”

At this point, the tragic love shared between two young adults from rival houses has been so thoroughly referenced and repeated throughout Western literary discourse that most of us know the general plot by osmosis alone.

But while there is not very much left to discover anew regarding William Shakespeare’s original play, it does not mean there isn’t still value in the tale.

While we understand now that Shakespeare himself did not entirely come up with the narrative and its story beats, any reader of his text can tell you why it is his version that still reigns supreme. His incredible ability to weave abstract poetic metaphor into his dialogue is a skill that has remained unrivaled, even hundreds of years after his death.

This expertise shines particularly well in “Romeo and Juliet,” for obvious reasons: As

bittersweet as it turns out, it is still a play in which romance takes the center stage. What better way to invoke romantic sentiment in an audience member than to tug at their proverbial heartstrings with words that seem to have sprung right off the most flowery of love letters?

It is this understanding of the production’s lasting legacy in the hearts of lovers everywhere that gives Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 adaptation “Romeo + Juliet” that concrete spirit.

Famously starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the respective titular characters, the film was met with praise at its release and remains a generally, fondly remembered adaptation.

Upon examining the work, one will understand why.

Often just as rambunctious as Luhrmann’s other works (such as 2001’s “Moulin Rouge!” and his 2013 adaptation of “The Great Gatsby”), Romeo + Juliet uses a mafia subculture-themed modern setting to tell its own version of the antiquated story. Fully embracing the camp that is sure to come

with such a description, he wields his iconic use of zealous and dramatic zoom-in shots, focusing on details from all over a scene many, many times. He splashes primary color all over the new setting of “Verona Beach” (framed as an ambiguous but populated American beach town, a tribute to Shakespeare’s original setting of Verona, Italy), and is relentless in his new portrayal of old characters as much flashier and flamboyant ones.

At times, though, this oftenscattered directorial style can make it easy for a viewer to be removed from the scene or the point in the narrative, potentially reflecting the production team’s possibly similar state of distraction during these particular moments.

Arguably, the boldest of Luhrmann’s choices in the film, however, is his decision to retain Shakespeare’s original dialogue. It is the brushstroke that highlights the rest of the movie entirely. Even though this literally means simply using already written prose, it somehow only adds personality and charm to the film. It serves the

greatest example of the director’s immense admiration of the source material he is drawing upon.

Ultimately, of all the things that pop from Romeo + Juliet, without a doubt one the biggest is this grand devotion to Shakespeare’s classic stage play.

That veneration alone, emanating from every shot, is enough to warm a viewer’s perspective and it only helps that every other part of this movie tries its best to make sure that

warmth stays within the heart for as long as possible.

Parrish Chang | The Advocate

4.5 out of 5 stars

SINGLE PRINGLE’S GUIDE TO VALENTINE’S DAY Robert Frank The Advocate

As the resident single guy of The Advocate newspaper and broadcast team, I’ve never really liked Valentine’s Day. A day for romance, love, and hanging out with your significant other doesn’t really provide a good environment for someone who doesn’t actually have a significant other.

Fear not, ladies and gentlemen who are in the same boat as me: I have come up with a list for what to do on the loneliest day in the year for many of us 45.2% Americans in the United States who are single (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017).

1. Call your parents. No matter if they are married or divorced, they would love to hear from you. Plus, if they are divorced, they would love to hear from you rather than the other person that helped make you.

2. Hang out with friends.

The best way to prevent loneliness is to put yourself in the presence of other people who know and care for you. Go to a movie with them,

although most likely they will have their own significant others with them and nobody likes to be a third wheel.

3. Take a walk outside. The air is nice and cool, and a good walk clears the mind of many stresses and things. It’s proven – that is, until you walk by all the couples holding hands, giving each other hugs, or the occasional make-out session on the park bench.

4. Go to the store. You may need things at the house. Go put your mind on something else, like finding stuff to help you survive.

That is, until you reach the Valentine’s Day aisle where people who just nearly forgot about it have completely demolished the shelves of heart-shaped chocolates and stuffed animals.

5. Eat out.

Nothing helps like a good meal.

Food allows us to be comfortable and taste the good things that go

into it. At least, until you look up and see all the people laughing with each other over candlelight and you lose your appetite.

6. Listen to music. Music boosts your spirit. It can make you feel better with just a few notes and boost your morale… until you realize that half of your music selection is about love and breakups and still you don’t want to skip this one, like you probably should,

because it’s just that good of a song.

7. Take a drive. Nobody does Sunday drives anymore just for the fun of it. The feel of the motor running, the free spirit of driving without a destination. Enjoy… until you see all the parties that are going on and you just don’t want to deal with that.

8.

Watch YouTube videos in bed. The bed is where you are most comfortable and there are so many videos out there to entertain you that you can stay there for the rest of the day. Especially on this day.

9. Eat a ton of chocolates.

It doesn’t matter if it’s German chocolates (the good stuff) or Hershey’s (the bad stuff), you need something sweet in your system. And chocolate is the most appropriate, especially since you bought the heart-shaped ones at the store earlier.

10. Take a shower and cry yourself to sleep. A cold shower has been proven to help boost your mind. But in all honesty the only reason why the shower is cold is because your water heater sucks, and the water that’s going down the sink is 98% water from the utility and 2% tears. So, let it out, champ, and you can sleep soundly for next day.

And there you go: 10 simple things that remind you of your loneliness… I mean, help keep your mind off your loneliness.

Here’s to a better one next year!

Eli Rankin | The Advocate

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Parrish Chang

A D V O C AT E - O N L I N E . N E T

TOSS YOUR COIN TO ‘THE WITCHER’

The Advocate

“The Witcher” is a current Netflix streaming series that has gone through many forms of media and has become a very popular series, no matter the medium.

This was originally a book series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. It grew very popular in Poland and made its way to America. Since then, a bunch of comics, television shows, video games, and tabletop RPGs have been based on his work.

The Witcher follows Geralt of Rivia and his journeys around the continent that is simply called “The Continent.”

Geralt is a witcher, a normal human taken away from its family at a young age and then mutated through means of science and magic. This basically makes all witchers superhuman, able to handle potions that are too toxic for normal human consumption. They acquire these powers through a trial where they consume many different forms of toxic herbs that mutate them and give them their powers.

In exchange, however, witchers become numb to the sensation of every emotion except for lust – but they also become infertile.

All witchers are male, due to their old traditions, and no woman has survived the trial that witchers

must go through. Most are monster hunters for hire, but not all are that way, as witchers differentiate in factions. Geralt belongs to the wolf school among witchers, which generally inhabit northern areas and are known to be the most reliable when it comes to hunting monsters.

But Geralt has a philosophy that there is no greater or lesser evil, and he would rather not choose sides. He is seen to show mercy to sentient creatures that have enough intelligence to speak and properly interact with others.

His many adventures spread around like tales and he has earned many titles – his most notable and violent name being “The Butcher of Blaviken,” due to his actions in said town that owes to a one-sided story given by the town’s mage (an individual born with such superpowers). Despite this name, Geralt does not slaughter thousands of men in response to how the general public treats him, because if he did, he would become just what everyone in the world labels him.

Geralt is not a black-and-white character, not simply a “good guy” or a “bad guy.” He’s a complex character that is great at grabbing the viewer’s attention and curiosity.

He keeps them on the edge of their seats, wondering what will happen next.

While The Witcher is a great

You Served Us. Let Us Serve You.

series, before watching it there are some things that need to be known.

This series is very mature and is not recommended for younger audiences. It includes intense gore, sexual content, nudity, self-harm, and many other things that can trigger one’s gag reflex, or nausea.

It surely is not a series for the squeamish or weak of heart.

If you’re okay with all that, the series is a treat to watch. It has a fantasy setting, but it’s a dark and grungy type of fantasy, which is very common among fantasy TV series. Unlike most other fantasy tales, we are not following a hero’s tale or even the tale of one character’s perspective; we instead are often switching which character we are watching. While Geralt is the main character, we also are given Yennifer’s story, going from a hunch-backed farm girl to a gorgeous and powerful mage. Her story is one of the more graphic twists, in terms of content. There are moments of self-harm, suicide attempts, sex, gore, and of selfhatred. Watching her story is one of the most interesting, but also hardest to watch, at times.

The other main character that viewers follow is a little bit of a spoiler for the entire series, so I won’t say much about her so that you can enjoy the story to the fullest.

The Witcher is a hard show to

5 out of 5 stars

get into since there’s a lot of information to absorb in order to understand what is going on. You can’t just put it on while you’re working on something else. To optimally enjoy the series, I suggest turning on subtitles because it makes it easier to decipher the info and to understand what some of the characters are saying.

The Witcher is a Netflix original series, with a length usually between 40 and little over 60 minutes. It’s not

DO YOU THINK DATING APPS ACTUALLY WORK?

the easiest show to binge in one sitting, but it is possible.

Talk of a second season has already begun, one that would presumably come out sometime in 2021.

The Witcher is a brilliant show and it is definitely a must-watch if you’re in the mood for a dark, grungy show that will make you squirm and leave you with those gasping moments.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

Kurt Larson

THE LACKLUSTER, BLOCKBUSTER OSCARS

The Advocate While the Oscars have never been the most entertaining of awards ceremonies to behold, the 92nd Academy Awards show on Sunday will at least go down in history for its historical Best Picture nomination.

For the first time in the Academy’s history, the award for Best Picture was given to a foreign language film. More specifically, director Bong Joon-Ho’s “Parasite” was presented with the award.

But the accolades don’t stop there: Parasite ended up taking home four Oscars, out of its six nominations, also winning for Best International Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

Bong gave several small speeches in Korean, stating his shock and gratitude and concluding his last acceptance speech with a quick phrase in English, saying “I will drink to the morning.”

But, aside from this historic moment, the 2020 Oscars were nothing special and even rather cringeworthy at times, thanks to the lack of a host and the unfunny “comedy” skits presenters were forced to perform.

There were a few moments of reprieve, such as Billie Eilish’s appropriately sad and sultry cover of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” during the celebrity death commemoration.

Of course, the real meat of the Oscars is finding out who won for each category. Firstly, The Academy was obligated to give director Quentin Tarentino at least one award and honored his movie “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood” for Best Production Design.

Following Tarentino’s win, Brad Pitt won for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film.

Next up was “Little Women,” which won for Best Costume Design, and then the Best Documentary award went to “American Factory.” Later in the ceremony, various technical awards

on “1917.” The latter also received an award for Achievement in Visual Effects.

As the evening reached its conclusion, Renée Zellweger was presented with an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for “Judy!” and proceeded to give a heartfelt but somewhat rambling acceptance speech – though she was not the only winner to do so.

The Oscars wouldn’t be complete without at least one celebrity taking over the show to push an agenda; this year it just so happened to be Joaquin Phoenix.

After taking the stage to accept his award for Best Actor in his role as Joker, he proceeded to make his own rambling speech, criticizing the treatment of farm animals and the use of animal products of all

THE OSCARS WOULDN’T BE COMPLETE WITHOUT AT LEAST ONE CELEBRITY TAKING OVER THE SHOW TO PUSH AN AGENDA; THIS YEAR, IT JUST SO HAPPENED TO BE JOAQUIN PHOENIX. were given and both “1917” and “Ford v Ferrari” were chosen for achievements in sound editing.

The critics’ favorite, “JoJo Rabbit,” was also a winner, for Best Adapted Screenplay. And after many years, Roger Deakins finally won a much deserved, long-awaited Oscar for his cinematography work

forms. Fortunately, the communal guilt trip was short-lived, and was quickly overshadowed by the announcement of the Best Picture winner.

To end the night, the cast and crew of Parasite crowded on stage to give their heartfelt thanks, were briefly played off, but were then quickly called back by a cheering audience to finish out their joint speech. After a few more “Thanks yous,” the band started up again and the night was officially over.

Overall, this year’s Academy Awards were fairly par for the course, but that was somewhat to be expected. Thankfully Parasite’s big win was the exciting spice that kept the night interesting. While the show itself may have been underwhelming, this year’s Oscars kicked off the decade with a historic moment in cinema and will go down as a defining moment for international film.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A D V O C AT E - O N L I N E . N E T

OREGON’S BIRTHDAY IS HERE AND THERE’S A LOT TO CELEBRATE Bethany Fallgren The Advocate

While many people are out buying chocolates, professing their love for one another or simply not giving a hoot about Valentine’s day, some are out celebrating something else. In the pacific northwest people are surrounded by lush landscapes, amazing cities, and roads that lead to endless possibilities. What better day to spend enjoying these things than on this coming holiday, but did you know it’s also Oregon’s Birthday? In fact, Oregon became the 33rd state in the United States Valentine’s day 1859, making her 160 years old and got to say, she looks pretty good for her age.

I have been lucky enough to have been born and spent the last 23 years in Oregon (I spend the majority of my childhood in

Washington). I’ve lived in several parts of the amazingly diverse state from Crooked River as a teen, to Bend in my early 20’s, then Portland and now The villages of Mt Hood.

I consider this state my home and would find it very difficult to leave or even think that I would even want to. There is still so much I haven’t seen and want to see, too many places here I would like to live. Although where I live now is pretty sweet and somewhere I had always fantasized living when I was growing up. Celebrating Oregon’s birthday to me is like partying for a best friend that’s always been there for you.

Something that is very enjoyable to do on Oregon’s Birthday and find to be a wonderful way to explore history is visiting the Western Antique Aero and Auto Museum (WAAAM) in Hood River. The

museum has one of the largest collections of classic airplanes, automobiles, motorcycles and several artifacts from the past. Not only are several hangars full of wonderful vehicles but all of them are in operating order, anything with a motor works and is full of life even now. They even start them up on special days for people to enjoy these beasts in action. WAAM is open every day 9-5, except for major holidays like Christmas and New Year’s.

If you aren’t sure what to do this coming Valentine’s day, maybe take a drive down 84 and enjoy the afternoon in Hood River viewing a part of the past and celebrate a part of Oregon as well. Whatever you are celebrating our 160-year-old state is sure to have something for anyone to enjoy.

Photos by Bethy Fallgren

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